I am just preparing my talk for this workshop tomorrow for @thesociologicalreview.org and reading a brilliant paper by the Goldsmiths students who turned Nirmal Puwar’s Manifesto for Live Methods into a picket line teach out in 2022 - you can watch it here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=BPvz...

Live Methods as creative resistance: Crafting a PhD and solidarity in the neoliberal university

YouTube video by Crafting a PhD

youtube.com

The Sociological Review Foundation@thesociologicalreview.org · 2d ago

Registration closes today! There are just a handful of places left for Live Methods with Les Back @academicdiary.bsky.social. Don't miss this chance to join an inspiring online course exploring live methods with one of sociology's leading voices. buff.ly/LCytOtC

Really looking forward to this workshop next week and meeting those who have signed up. This is a fundraiser for Sociological Review, and all monies go to the Foundation. There are still some places left. @thesociologicalreview.org

The Sociological Review Foundation@thesociologicalreview.org · last wk.

What if qualitative research could expand beyond the interview? Join Professor Les Back for a two-part online workshop exploring Live Methods - creative, contemporary approaches to qualitative research. 📅 4 & 18 Aug 💻 Online 🎟️ Register by 1 Aug: buff.ly/csttcLH

Something new on George Benson’s forgotten album gem Giblet Gravy - enjoyed writing this - love his guitar playing www.everythingjazz.com/story/giblet...

"Giblet Gravy" - George Benson's Early Career Jazz Gem - Everything Jazz

George Benson- Giblet Gravy

everythingjazz.com

“I love the plurality of the world. Things placed side by side that are incompatible, that celebration of difference and diversity, of strangeness and oddness.” Thinking Allowed host Laurie Taylor talks to sociologist Les Back @academicdiary.bsky.social in our magazine. buff.ly/6cri9pb

Sometimes all you need to do sociology is a pencil and a notebook

I have been thinking a lot about what has changed since Nirmal Puwar and I wrote the Live Methods manifesto. Looking forward to sharing some of these thoughts next week. I am planning to give a talk in the first workshop, but I really want it to be a space to think about our shared craftwork too.

The Sociological Review Foundation@thesociologicalreview.org · last wk.

What if qualitative research could expand beyond the interview? Join Professor Les Back for a two-part online workshop exploring Live Methods - creative, contemporary approaches to qualitative research. 📅 4 & 18 Aug 💻 Online 🎟️ Register by 1 Aug: buff.ly/csttcLH

What if qualitative research could expand beyond the interview? Join Professor Les Back for a two-part online workshop exploring Live Methods - creative, contemporary approaches to qualitative research. 📅 4 & 18 Aug 💻 Online 🎟️ Register by 1 Aug: buff.ly/csttcLH

Something new - A Qualitative Research Renaissance - if you’d like a .pdf, please just message me. Be happy to share

Really looking forward to this pair of evening workshops next week on Live Sociology. There are still places; all proceeds go back to the Foundation to support sociology. @thesociologicalreview.org

The Sociological Review Foundation@thesociologicalreview.org · last wk.

What if qualitative research could expand beyond the interview? Join Professor Les Back for a two-part online workshop exploring Live Methods - creative, contemporary approaches to qualitative research. 📅 4 & 18 Aug 💻 Online 🎟️ Register by 1 Aug: buff.ly/csttcLH

Thanks to all the staff and students at The Grove Academy - what a brilliant session. It was wonderful to lead you all in some spontaneous football chanting in the classroom - brilliant!

@thesociologicalreview.org sorry I meant to copy you into this 👇

Les Back@academicdiary.bsky.social · 2w ago

Fantastic day at Grove Academy, Balham, London going to give a talk to the sixth formers and teachers for this Sociological Review Foundation sponsored event on Class, Culture & Discontents

@thesociologicalreview.org sorry I meant to copy you into this 👇

Les Back@academicdiary.bsky.social · 2w ago

Fantastic day at Grove Academy, Balham, London going to give a talk to the sixth formers and teachers for this Sociological Review Foundation sponsored event on Class, Culture & Discontents

Fantastic day at Grove Academy, Balham, London going to give a talk to the sixth formers and teachers for this Sociological Review Foundation sponsored event on Class, Culture & Discontents

I love this little free library on Queens Park in Glasgow. I routinely reposition my own books in it… lovely when they disappear quickly. Academic Diary deposited last night was gone this morning.

As an English person living in Scotland (and an *extremely* fair weather footie fan) this resonates. Excellent read - thank you @academicdiary.bsky.social and @leaskyd.bsky.social for doing it justice! (PS I equally support Scotland too...).

UofG School of Social & Political Sciences@uofgsps.bsky.social · 4w ago

"Football is adversarial - but it can also be playful" With World Cup fever gripping the nation, Prof Les Back @academicdiary.bsky.social talked to @thetimes.com about Scotland’s ‘anyone but England’ tradition. Excellent article by @leaskyd.bsky.social www.thetimes.com/uk/scotland/...

Here's a timely discussion of the sociology of the football chant, with our own Les Back (@academicdiary.bsky.social).

How do soccer chants start? And do they work in U.S. fan culture? (Gift Article)

After English and Scottish supporters made themselves heard at recent MLB games, we look into how soccer chants develop within fan culture.

eur03.safelinks.protection.outlook.com

"Football is adversarial - but it can also be playful" With World Cup fever gripping the nation, Prof Les Back @academicdiary.bsky.social talked to @thetimes.com about Scotland’s ‘anyone but England’ tradition. Excellent article by @leaskyd.bsky.social www.thetimes.com/uk/scotland/...

The sociology of why Scotland backs ‘anyone but England’

A Glasgow University academic says support for England’s opponents is often playful, but can reveal deeper tensions

thetimes.com

Lilian Thuram is brilliant in this doc about Kylian Mbappe www.youtube.com/watch?v=I74m...

Kylian Mbappé: The story of a once-in-a-generation talent

YouTube video by BBC Football

youtube.com

The ugly face of the beautiful game - Ben Carrington tells us why football culture at the World Cup is still haunted by racism www.reuters.com/sports/socce...

Racist commentary about Black players comes under scrutiny at World Cup

Belgium coach Rudi Garcia’s description of Senegal as one of “those teams” that “tend to lose their tactical structure towards the end of the match” has reignited scrutiny of racially coded language a...

reuters.com

La La Peace Song by Al Wilson www.shazam.com/track/295772... At @academicdiary.bsky.social gaff for daughters graduation and this is playing in the coffee shop

La La Peace Song - Al Wilson: Song Lyrics, Music Videos & Concerts

Listen to La La Peace Song by Al Wilson. See lyrics and music videos, find Al Wilson tour dates, buy concert tickets, and more!

shazam.com

If you are interested in doing research differently please come and be part of this conversation. All proceeds go to supporting the work of the foundation and funding sociology.

The Sociological Review Foundation@thesociologicalreview.org · last mo.

📢 Early bird tickets available! Join Les Back for a two-part online workshop exploring #LiveMethods and creative approaches to sociological research. 📅 4 & 18 August 🎟️ Early bird tickets until 24 June buff.ly/0iwnvNw #Sociology #ResearchMethods

📢 Early bird tickets available! Join Les Back for a two-part online workshop exploring #LiveMethods and creative approaches to sociological research. 📅 4 & 18 August 🎟️ Early bird tickets until 24 June buff.ly/0iwnvNw #Sociology #ResearchMethods

www.mixcloud.com/Resonance/en...

English Stitch - 17 June 2026

#8: What is English Culture? Over ten weeks Professor Stuart Hall, the godfather of Cultural Studies, takes us on a trip through the national imagination. Hosted by critic and writer K Biswas, the ser...

mixcloud.com

Here's some excellent mid-week listening, with @profkepickett.bsky.social, Gurminder Bhambra, and @academicdiary.bsky.social.

Thinking Allowed - Rethinking Sociology: Empire, Knowledge and Connection - BBC Sounds

Rethinking sociology through empire, inequality and global connections.

bbc.co.uk

Ten years ago I was on sabbatical, trying to finish writing Outskirts. It was largely a book about grief, and so all those deaths (Bowie, Prince, Victoria Wood, Brexit) lingered between the lines

Just out: this reflection on the current field of sociological research, part of a special issue marking 30 years of @socresonline.bsky.social. From our own Les Back (a.k.a. @academicdiary.bsky.social).

Never prouder thank today to be a citizen of Glasgow. The fascists returned to Buchanan Street again in their hundreds and were opposed by people in their thousands. Nae pasaran!

www.isa-sociology.org/en/conferenc...

Useful workshop on writing and publishing for anyone who could use some help, run by the wonderful Karen O’Reilly. All the proceeds from the workshop go back into supporting the Foundation’s work. www.tickettailor.com/events/theso...

Buy tickets – Publish or Perish: Strategies, tips and tricks for communicating sociology – Zoom

Publish or Perish: Strategies, tips and tricks for communicating sociology – Zoom, Wed 17 Jun 2026 - Are you feeling the pressure to publish but unsure where to start, what to prioritise or how to com...

tickettailor.com

Again and again and again researchers, activists and people who work to enable communities to live well and peacefully together had warned and offered clear, practical steps. *Last year* I spoke at length of this with @neilmackay.bsky.social It will get worse without action

Scots scholar says anti-refugee rhetoric has led UK into “the foothills of genocide”

POLITICAL rhetoric in Britain has taken the country into “the foothills of genocide”, according to Scotland’s leading scholar on issues…

heraldscotland.com